Di Matteo hails super Torres

Roberto Di Matteo praised the performance of Fernando Torres after his brace helped Chelsea reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Last Updated: 18/03/12 5:09pm

Roberto Di Matteo: Delighted for Fernando Torres

Caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo praised the performance of Fernando Torres after his brace helped Chelsea reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

The Spain striker was on target twice to end a spell of 25 hours 41 minutes of football without scoring in the Blues' 5-2 victory against Championship side Leicester City.

The Italian also maintained his 100 per cent winning start to his tenure, having won all four games since he took over from Andre Villas-Boas at Stamford Bridge.

And he said: "Every win gives the players confidence. You can see they have more confidence.

"I thought Fernando had a terrific game, he fought very hard for the team and managed to score a couple of goals too. It's wonderful for him.

"I have a lot of belief in him and the other players. He works so hard and in life if you do that you will get rewarded for it.

"I really wanted us to keep a clean sheet. We didn't manage to do that but I'm very pleased with the performance.

"I'm trying to get the players to perform as best they can but I'm very relaxed about it."

Difficult

Di Matteo was also quick to salute Gary Cahill's display after his former team-mate at Bolton Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during Bolton's FA Cup match against Tottenham on Saturday and remains in critical condition in hospital.

The manager added: "It was a very difficult day for him and the whole football community, all our thoughts are with Fabrice.

"When things like this happen you see how close the football community is."